AMMAN: Public anger in Jordan over a series of murders described as “stomach-churning” has led to growing calls for the enforcement of the death penalty.

There are 219 convicts on death row in Jordan, including 22 women.

In February 2019, Jordanian MPs passed an amnesty law, the third of its kind since King Abdullah II took office in 1999.

Under the law, about 8,000 prisoners were pardoned, including people convicted of crimes ranging from slander, abuse, cybercrimes and tax evasion.

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s prime minister and foreign minister have criticized Hezbollah for sending three drones over an Israeli gas installation last week, saying any interference in US-mediated talks to demarcate the country’s maritime border with Israel was “unacceptable.”

The comments followed the movement’s launch of unarmed reconnaissance drones on Saturday toward the offshore Karish gas field.

AL-MUKALLA: Military officials and residents in Yemen’s city of Taiz are bracing themselves for intensified attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis after the militia group mobilized new fighters, heavy artillery, and military vehicles outside the city.

CAIRO: A shark incident that killed two tourists on the beaches of the Egyptian city of Hurghada has worried visitors, with a hotel sector official sending out reassurances and a diving body asking its members to follow guidance and safety instructions.

The first victim was a 68-year-old Austrian woman who lost an arm and a leg due to a shark attack yet managed to swim to shore to seek help. The second was a Romanian tourist found dead hours after the first attack.

ANKARA: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that Turkey is in no rush to stage a new military operation against armed Kurdish militants.

But regional actors have voiced their concerns over the potential Turkish offensive against the towns of Tal Rifaat and Manbij.

“No need for hurry. We don’t need to do that,” Erdogan told journalists in Madrid, where he met with US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the NATO summit. Erdogan offered no timeline for the planned operation.